MOG

Mark Gane formed the band in 1977 with fellow Ontario College of Art (O.C.A.) student, David Miller. David and Mark had known each other since 1975, and shared an interest in art and music. By Halloween 1977, Martha and the Muffins were ready to perform their first gig, at the O.C.A. The line-up was complete with Mark, Martha Johnson (vocals, keyboards), Andy Haas (saxophone), Carl Finkle (bass), Tim Gane (drums), and Martha Ladly (vocals, keyboards, trombone). Their early gigs included covers (such as The Beatles' "Day Tripper") and early Muffins classics such as "Insect Love," "Suburban Dream," and "Echo Beach."

They released an independent single (early versions of "Insect Love" and "Suburban Dream") in 1979, but it was an impressed Interview Magazine writer, Glen O'Brien, who played their demo tape to Virgin Records, which earned them their international deal.

Recorded in England with producer Mike Howlett, Martha and the Muffins debut album, Metro Music was released in 1980, and "Echo Beach" was soon released as a single. The rest is, as they say, history. "Echo Beach" became a worldwide hit, and perhaps their signature tune. No one was more surprised with the immense success of "Echo Beach", than was the band.

Martha and The Muffins - Echo Beach

Gane and Johnson (now a couple) announced that while they wanted to continue as a recording act, they also wanted to branch out in new directions by using new collaborators. In essence, Gane and Johnson decided that "M + M" was now Martha + Mark, along with a bevy of studio musicians and hired sidemen. Whatever their group name, the Mystery Walk album gave M + M/Martha and the Muffins their biggest hit in years with "Black Stations/White Stations", an anti-racist anthem whose first verse took radio stations to task for refusing to play a song about mixed-race romance, a story which Martha Johnson had heard related on the radio while driving in her car.

M + M - Black Stations White Stations

Posted on 10/23/2007